


22nd Day of Winter - Drinking Up the Sun

by unjaundiced



Series: Winter Spirits [26]
Category: Naruto
Genre: 25 Days of Christmas, 25 Days of Fic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friendship, Gen, Goodbyes, Pre-Relationship, Transitioning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-06 19:24:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5427761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unjaundiced/pseuds/unjaundiced
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New Years Eve is a time to visit the temple. It is a time for new beginnings, goodbyes, and affirmations.<br/>Set the year after Boobie Prizes. They're 20 and 21.</p>
            </blockquote>





	22nd Day of Winter - Drinking Up the Sun

Iruka twirled his sparkler absentmindedly, drawing pictures and cutting them into pieces with decisive flicks of his wrist. Children and girls stood in circles around him with their own sparklers, waving them around aimlessly and leaving strings of light hanging in mid-air. Anko bumped him with her arm and he blinked curiously, flinching as his sparkler flared one last time.  
  
"Whatcha thinkin' about?” She handed him another sparkler, chewing on a piece of mochi from her ozoni. Iruka shrugged, tossing his spent sparkler in a bin and selecting a new one.  
  
"I was thinking of moving back home,” he said thoughtfully, pressing the tip of his sparkler to the communal punk. “I've been at the Hatake house kind of a long time already.”  
  
"Idiot.” Anko gently shoved his shoulder. “They love you over there. Plus your house is kind of empty. Even with all those foxes you keep collecting, it won't be the same.”  
  
"Yeah, I know.” Iruka looked a little sad. The bright flashes of light from the sparklers danced along the line of his scar as if leaving a coded message.  
  
"Don't do stupid shit so flippantly. At least talk it over with them. They're like your family now,” she grumbled, lighting a few more sparklers. “Don't treat them so lightly. It won't be fair.”  
  
Iruka shrugged noncommittally and waved his sparkler around in wandering lines before flicking it up in a sharp stroke, then angled to the left, and across to the right. He got partway through the “I” he was adding before he scrubbed the after images away with the blinding sparks with a heavy frown.  
  
Anko stared at the fading images burned into the memory of her retina pensively and cast her friend a thoughtful look. What had the rest of the message been?  
  
They were interrupted as the temple bells started to ring and the deafening crackle of firecrackers took over the yard. Smoke filled the air and children cheered, waving their sparklers in the air. People paused in their milling about as the priests and nuns flowed out of the temple carrying omikuji and papers for people to write their New Years wishes on.  
  
"Hey, Iruka-kun,” Anko blurted out as the last of the firecrackers popped. He looked at her curiously. “Is Kakashi-kun still giving you weird crap all the time?”  
  
Iruka snorted and shook his head. “Yeah, he never changes. It's been like that since I gave Obito those eyeballs in his name all those years ago. It's like he's trolling me.”  
  
Anko smiled and patted him on the shoulder. “Stay at the house, you'll be fine,” she assured.  
  
"Oh, hey! There you all are!” She jumped on her toes and waved vigorously through the smoke. Shadowy figures loomed and melted out of the gloom. Ibiki appeared first like a menacing bodyguard. He grimaced when he saw her.  
  
"Oh joy,” he rumbled. “I cannot contain myself and my excitement.”  
  
Gai pushed past him, arms flung out wide as he embraced Anko and lifted her off her feet. “Happy New Year! Happy New Year! It's going to be a great year!”  
  
Anko shouted and wriggled in his grip, resorting to hitting him in the stomach to make him drop her. The man pouted, then spied Iruka and turned towards him with his arms wide open, a huge smile on his face. Iruka rolled his eyes and gave Gai his hug, yelping when he was lifted off his feet and spun in a circle.  
  
"Okay, that's enough schmoozing,” Kakashi butt in, slouching up to them munching on a stick of Pocky. “Where're the rest of you dorks? It's time to get you all wasted.”  
  
"We're not dorks!” Anko shouted at the same time as Iruka protested the “getting wasted” part.  
  
"This is a temple,” Iruka scolded. “The sake is supposed to be a blessing, not a curse. Don't make it into one.”  
  
"Yeah! Wasted!” someone shouted behind him, barreling into his back. “Iruka-kun! This is our first year being able to taste New Years sake! Don't ruin it for us!”  
  
The starch went out of Iruka pretty quickly after that. Kotetsu sounded like he'd already had a blessing or two and if he had, then Izumo had as well. Those two...  
  
"Come on, all you legals. Let's get this party started,” Genma drawled, sauntering up to the group. A tall figure appeared next to him and they realized it was the serious looking Raidou from Konoha Gakuen. The man seemed to shift uncomfortably before raising a hand and uttering a shy greeting. Anko grinned broadly. She _loved_ breaking in fresh meat.  
  
Ibiki caught her by the hood of her jacket as she bounced by and pulled her back, whispering harshly in her ear a warning about leaving the newcomer alone. Raidou was painfully shy and was easily overwhelmed when meeting new people, hence his lack of friends. Of course—in Anko's mind—what better way to break the ice than some hot New Years sake?  
  
"Hey, Sister! Sister!” she called, breaking away from Ibiki to flag down a passing nun. “Sister! I want sake! Hey, where are you going!”  
  
"She's harmless,” Iruka offered tentatively when Raidou cast the girl an alarmed look. He added hesitantly. “Mostly.”  
  
"Mah, that one has teeth like a tiger, claws like a shrew, and a temper like a typhoon. Don't let that cute haircut fool you,” Kakashi commented, casually stepping aside as Iruka attempted to elbow him. Raidou chuckled awkwardly.  
  
"Well, she _is_ a character, I'll give you that,” he mumbled, cheeks flushing. Iruka felt like he had to take care of him or something. He looked so _helpless_.  
  
"Yes, well Anko is what she is,” Iruka chirped, stepping forward. Kakashi slung an arm around Iruka's shoulders and steered him towards the temple before he could escape.  
  
"Enough stalling,” the taller man ordered, pushing a protesting Iruka up the steps.  
  
"Oh, well I don't know if I'm quite ready yet,” Iruka demurred, stalling at the high threshold. Kakashi rolled his eyes skyward as if asking for divine intervention and _shoved._  
  
"Hurry up and receive your blessing like the ungrateful sinner you are,” Kakashi ordered. Iruka sighed in resignation.  
  
Hot sake, as it turned out, did break the ice, grease the wheels of commerce, pave the way for ambassadorship, and possibly loosen the sheets on a few strange beds—but mostly it broke the ice.  
  
The group of friends later found themselves clear of the smoky temple district and were lying on the cold grass that carpeted a tall dike. The stars were faded in the orange-blue sky, almost erased by the brightness of the city lights. Kurenai had joined them and brought snacks as well as the requisite ozoni which she made sure everyone had at least a taste of. She also brought hot tea which Iruka really appreciated, though Kakashi confiscated it after a while and re-introduced hot sake to his palate.  
  
Iruka—feeling incredibly warm and floaty—drew pictures in the sky with his finger and made up constellations in his mind. He pointed to a particularly bright star, accidentally covering it with his fingertip. He moved his hand and covered it again, amusing himself for a while by making it appear and disappear. He titled his head curiously as someone slid close, turned to see whose head bumped against his.  
  
Kakashi shuffled in and craned his neck to see what Iruka was doing. He pointed at the same star. “Sirius, the Dog Star. From Canis Majoris.”  
  
Iruka looked back up. Of course Kakashi would know.  
  
Kakashi's finger drifted slightly to the left and stopped on the next bright star in the field of faded pinpricks. Iruka leaned in to see what he was pointing at. “Procyon. From Canis Minoris.”  
  
Kakashi's finger drifted to the far right, stopping at another bright reddish star opposite Sirius. He tilted his head, lips almost brushing Iruka's ear as he murmured quietly, “Betelgeuse. From Orion.”  
  
Iruka shifted to look at his friend and grinned. “Two dogs and a Hunter?”  
  
Kakashi smiled up at the stars. “The three brightest stars in our sky. Of course they'd belong to important constellations. You can sometimes see them during the day too.”  
  
"Isn't that the Winter Triangle,” Kurenai asked, tracing the stars further up on the hill.  
  
"Hey! I remembered that! That's the first time I've remembered anything boring,” Anko commented. There was a scattered burst of chuckling. She grinned.  
  
"God, I feel old all of a sudden,” Asuma grumbled, tucking his arms behind his head. “I feel like we were in school ages ago.”  
  
"It's because we've all known each other since infancy,” Ibiki chimed in. “We've known each other forever. Now that we've all left Konoha Gakuen for the University section, we probably won't see each other as often.”

"Naw,” Genma drawled. “We'll see each other. 'cause we're all going to be working together until we die.”  
  
Izumo and Kotetsu burst into a fit of sleepy giggles at that. Kotetsu declared: “Then we're going to be working together forever because I'm not going to let any of you die!” to which they all responded with a chorus of agreement, Anko raising her fist to the pinkening sky.  
  
"Raidou too,” Izumo added as an afterthought. “He can't die either.”  
  
Raidou chuckled quietly, wherever he was. “Thanks.”  
  
They were quiet for a moment before Iruka spoke again. “Kakashi?” The grass rustled as Kakashi shifted in acknowledgment.  
  
"Canis Minor means 'little dog', right?” The grass rustled again.  
  
"Well, you know how they say that constellations are souls stuck to the sky?” Silence.  
  
"Do you think... Do you think Pakkun is up there with the little dog?” There was a long silence before the grass whispered as Kakashi closed his eyes and rested a hand on his face.  
  
"Y-Yeah,” he mumbled shakily, tracks of silver slipping from beneath his palm.  
  
There was a long silence as they watched the sky continue to lighten, Sirius burning brightly in the peach sky. Izumo suddenly spoke in a voice that was almost silent, so suddenly and so quietly that they almost forgot to hear him.  
  
"Guys? If we do die, let's promise to become stars so we can stay together forever,” he told the sky. The grass next to him rustled as Gai slid down the hill.  
  
"Stars do not live forever, my friend,” the normally effusive man commented quietly. He paused. “But they come very close.”  
  
"Sure, let's do that,” Kotetsu said. “We can go to where Pakkun is and keep that old grump company.”  
  
Kakashi choked a bit and peered between the cracks of his fingers to the burning orange of the bright winter's sun. The Dog Star resisted it's kin's approach and winked down as its siblings faded in the light.  
  
Iruka shifted to look at him and smiled sadly, arching up and shouting at the top of his lungs: “To the stars!”  
  
"To the stars!” the others echoed.  
  
"And by the gods may we live forever.”

**Author's Note:**

> This work was originally posted on Livejournal in 2011 as part of the annual 12 or 25 Days of Christmas challenge. The story takes place by years and utilises Japanese honourifics as a necessity. I tried to use canonical names wherever possible and created original character names as needed.
> 
> Due to the conditions at the time, the writing is a bit clunky but will largely remain unedited  
>  
> 
> **Notes**  
>  This was inspired by Super Cell's 君の知らない物語 (Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari) or "The Story You Don't Know", the ending song for the Bakemonogatari (Ghost Stories) anime. The song is about unrequited first loves, star-crossed lovers, and the secret pain of pretending everything is all right and missing your chance at love because you can't say how you feel. The singer can only express her feelings by suggesting they all go stargazing so they can find Orihime and Hikoboshi (the Summer Lovers) and Deneb, Altair, and Vega (The Summer Triangle) which represent herself, her friend, and the person they both love.
> 
> The first bridge essentially translates to "Tonight, let's go stargazing!" Here's to stargazing, drinking up the sun, and turning into stars at dawn.
> 
> Winter Triangle – Also known as the Great Southern Triangle in certain parts of Australia and New Zealand. It occurs in the Winter Hexagon and consists of the three brightest stars in our sky: Sirius the Dog Star of Canis Major (The Big Dog), Porcyon of Canis Minor (The Little Dog), and Betelgeuse of Orion the Hunter. Sirius is the single brightest actual star in our sky and can be seen even in the daytime. The other two may also be seen in the daytime during the summer.
> 
> Legal drinking age in Japan starts at 20.


End file.
